The Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering has announced four new faculty members hired in 2026.

To better serve the growing student population and expand the scope of research expertise in key areas such as ocean engineering, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence and machine learning, the department has appointed the following new faculty:

Jose del Aguila Ferrandis

Jose del Aguila Ferrandis has joined as an assistant professor in the department. He most recently served as a machine learning scientist for NATO’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) in La Spezia, Italy, developing reinforcement learning-driven simulation testbeds to study GNSS spoofing strategies and navigation counter-measures for uncrewed aerial systems.

Del Aguila Ferrandis completed his Ph.D. in Computational Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a focus on machine learning, partial differential equations. He holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s in Naval and Ocean Engineering from ETSIN, UPM in Madrid, Spain. 

Ryan Coe 

Ryan Coe, a two time Hokie, has joined the department as an associate professor. He comes to Virginia Tech from Sandia National Laboratories’ Water Power Technologies group, where he served as a research engineer from 2013 to 2026. His research focuses primarily on modeling, testing, control, and design of ocean systems, including wave energy converters (WECs), ocean vehicles, autonomous systems, and platforms.

He holds a bachelor of science in ocean engineering and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering, both from Virginia Tech. Coe is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering, the Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, and the Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy, and a member of the Editorial Board of Energies. 

Qi Heng Ho

Qi Heng Ho has joined the department as an Assistant Professor. His research focuses on autonomous decision-making in safety-critical environments, with applications spanning self-driving cars, uncrewed aerial vehicles, underwater robots, planetary exploration robots, and spacecraft operations.

He holds a B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from the National University of Singapore and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Mingi Jeong

Mingi Jeong has joined the department as an assistant professor. His research expertise lies in marine autonomy, AI/ML-based perception in ocean and aerospace domains, full-stack robotic decision-making, safe navigation in dynamic environments, and multi-robot and mission-level autonomy.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Coast Guard Studies and master’s in Maritime Safety Environment Engineering, both from the Korea Maritime and Ocean University and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Dartmouth College. He is also a licensed Chief Navigation Officer on ocean-going vessels with unlimited tonnage.